ABSTRACT

In 2012, 230 million knowledge workers were employed worldwide (Manyika et al. 2013). Kastelein (2014), Bakker (2014), and Groenesteijn (2015) all report in their PhD theses that new attention is needed for the ergonomic design of office interiors because of the increase in knowledge workers. Knowledge workers work in new office environments like the combi-office (see Figure 8.1) and use computer workstations and new information and communication technologies. These technologies provide alternatives for where, when, and how to do the work, and they reduce the necessity of coming to the office. Sometimes knowledge workers are displaced from their leaders working in various departments and time zones or from remote sites, such as home offices, hotels, and airport lounges, etc. (Groenesteijn 2015). Interestingly, Kastelein (2014) reports that while teleworking is becoming more widely accepted, a number of leading companies like Apple, Yahoo!, and Google are holding on to (or have started embracing) the belief that having workers in the same place is crucial to their success. This appears to be based on the view that physical proximity can lead to casual exchanges (Hagstrom 1965; Kraut et al. 1988; Appel-Meulenbroek 2014), which in turn can lead to breakthroughs for products and services.